Richard Lester - Seixas & Soler: Harpsichord Sonatas (2008)

Tracklist

01. Sonata in D Minor, No. 19: I. Allegro
02. Sonata in D Minor, No. 20: I. Allegro assai
03. Sonata in F Minor, No. 23: I. Allegro
04. Sonata in F Minor, No. 23: II. Giga
05. Sonata in F Minor, No. 23: III. Minuet
06. Sonata in A Major, No. 11: I. Allegro
07. Sonata in A Major, No. 11: II. Adagio
08. Sonata in A Major, No. 11: III. Allegro assai
09. Sonata in D Minor, No. 6: I. Allegro
10. Sonata in D Minor, No. 6: II. Adagio
11. Sonata in D Minor, No. 6: III. Minuet
12. Sonata in D Minor, No. 5: I. Presto
13. Sonata in D Minor, No. 5: II. Minuet
14. Sonata in G Minor, No. 25: I. Allegro assai
15. Sonata in F-sharp Major, R. 90: I. Allegro
16. Sonata in F Major, R. 56: I. Andante cantabile
17. Sonata in D Minor, R. 117: I. Molto moderato
18. Sonata in G Major, R. 45: I. Allegro
19. Sonata in D Major, R. 15: I. Allegretto
20. Sonata in D-Flat Major, R. 88: I. Allegro
21. Sonata in D Major, R. 84: I. Allegro
22. Fandango

Keyboard music in the Iberian Peninsula during the first half of the eighteenth was dominated by three composers; Carlos Seixas (1704-1742), Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783) and Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). These three composers were instrumental in the growth of the binary form sonata in the Iberian Peninsula which dominated harpsichord music to an even greater degree than the tiento in the previous two centuries. The harpsichord sonatas of Carlos Seixas and Padre Antonio Soler strongly reveal the influence of Scarlatti with whom they studied. All three were also instrumental in developing the ‘novel’ galant style that effectively provided a stepping stone between the Baroque and Classical periods.